Hello,

I live down here in South FL and was hoping to bring my two young kids to watch the Black and Red practice.  Does anyone know where exactly they are practicing and if any of them are open?  Also, I see that they have some scrimmages scheduled, but they don't list a venue for any of them.  If anyone has any info, it would be much appreciated!

Thanks a lot!  Go DC UNITED!

From the DC website:

As expected, Chinese forward Yang Men has joined United in Florida. The 6'2" striker trained with the Black-and-Red last September, and he will battle alongside other players to make the final roster. Former University of Maryland forward Abe Thompson is no longer training with the team, and 21-year-old Colombian forward Yessy Mena has been invited into camp on trial. 

So... no Abe Thompson.  What the heck happened on day 1?  

Also, would be cool if Yang Men turned into a target striker for the team.

Well, he sounds versatile.

FCDallas had him in the third round of the SBI mock draft.

He appeared on the stock falling list one day:  "He had a handful of strong runs and showed off some good pace, which might be enough promise to get him drafted. But he rarely proved dangerous down the right wing or around the box. He’ll still get drafted, but with a chance to be a Combine star, he missed the boat."

For the third round, why in the world would DCU pass on a pick?

Building on Chest's channeling of Professor Trelawney, comes this from OregonLive's Geoffrey Arnold: Darlington Nagbe might not want to play in the Great White North.  Or at least not in Vancouver.

Obviously, this leads to speculation - supported by talk last week that they were open to the idea - that the Whitecaps might look to trade the pick.  Obviously, the good writers here at B&RU have already considered what DC might give to get at that top spot, and they've gone in depth at who to take at United's current #3 draft slot.

But what if we could have our Charm City Cake and eat it too?  Assume that United trades some player or future draft pick or money or something else to Vancouver in exchange for the #1 pick on Thursday; and further assume that whatever United gives up, the FO somehow manages to hold onto the third pick.

So now we get to play with two picks in the top three.  My questions to you, good people of the Internet:

1. Who do you take #1? Please limit your responses to "Nagbe" and "Kitchen" for the sake of realism.
2. Who do you think Portland takes at #2?
3. Who do you take #3?

Me?  I go Kitchen first.  He seems like the best talent in the draft, and I don't like drafting for need, at least not in soccer.  There's also the off-chance that Portland goes with Valentin or another non-forward with the second pick, creating the almost incomprehensible scenario of one team drafting both Kitchen and Nagbe.  Of course, that team happens to be our Boys in Black.
(And for those curious:  Yes, this entire FanPost is an exercise in getting too excited over the draft and pretending that the best case scenario is at all likely.  Improbable? Definitely. Unfeasible? Quite possibly. Humor me.)

Now that the Market & Economic Study for soccer stadia in downtown Baltimore (a.k.a D.C. United's possible home in 2012 or 2013) has been released, I glanced through it Wednesday night and again in putting this post together. On the surface, it seems like Shatz' position is that Baltimore's report would be beneficial for the community, regardless of where the community is. But maybe within the report itself, the report could be played towards the team's benefit when it comes to a SSS in (or closer to) the District if such a venture would be pursued. How so? Read ahead.

Continue reading this post »

DC United just announced that they areparting ways with Danny Allsopp.  The Australian was rather frustrating this season.  When 2010 was new and fresh, I thought that Allsopp could have the ability to score ten goals for us.  But since his success seemed predicated on running on to balls played into space behind the backline, and the fact that we never really had a playmaker in the midfield, he only got half as many.  Still, his five goals (disgustingly enough) tied him for the team scoring lead.

Danny seemed like a great guy, and it was always a lot of fun to cheer, "Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oy oy oy!"  He became the first Australian to play in MLS.  But he lacked speed, like so many United players, and was never much of a scoring threat.  Best wishes in the future.

And now that a couple of high-priced, low-scoring forwards in Danny Allsopp and Jaime Moreno have come off the books, hopefully Kasper and Co. can pick up some young goalscorers to make United an entertaining side again in 2011.  With the success of Fredy Montero and David Ferreira, maybe it's time to look to Colombia?

In the continuing saga of Andy Najar winning everything, our 17 year old midfielder won the 2010 MLS Rookie of the Year.  He's the first United player to win the award since Ben Olsen.  Something about that #14.  He's also the first attacking player since Clint Dempsey to win, and the youngest ever to win the award.  Here's to fellow Academy member Conor Shanosky winning the award next season!

Esta noche, tenemos que Najar!

Not a D.C. resident, and so have followed the D.C. election from a very D.C. United-centric angle. But I don't have a feel for whether Vincent Gray will be a better supporter of the beautiful game in the District. (hard to get much worse than Adrian Fenty)  Gray didn't promise anything to DCU fans in the weeks before the election but what is the general take here? Will Gray lead us into the light and away from the raccoons, squirrels and rats of RFK?

For different reasons, I think, DC United has some company in the department of fallen powers.  New England slid into a decline around the same time as the Black & Red.  Taylor Twellman's career was ruined in 2008, and with it New England's most dynamic attacker.  Ralston was in and out of the line up for the past 2 seasons until finally retiring this year.  Michael Parkhurst left for Europe, taking care of their best defender.  They traded Jeff Larentowicz, an excellent partner to Sharlie Joseph, to Colorado for a pair of emergency backups in Burpo (out) and Gibbs (not too great cover). Steve Nicol has been able to guide the team into the playoffs through sheer defensive discipline, but it doesn't look like they'll make it this year.

Here's what I see in the Revolution: a bunch of youngsters, a bunch of fill-ins, and two stalwarts in Joseph and Reis (both out for a good stretch).  Doesn't look like a particularly great system.

And then there's the outside competition stuff: New England can win in the Superliga, yet not in the league.

I don't think their ownership cares too much about the team either.  Nicol probably struggles to find good players in the bargain bin (what else explains the lack of high-quality players?), and plenty haven't worked out.  They have a stadium because it happens to be there thanks to their more-favored sibling in the Patriots.

I'm seeing an awful lot of similarities.  Both franchises need to be uprooted and rebuilt, but whereas DC doesn't have the resources for that, I don't see the leadership up north really wanting to.  Tell me if I'm missing something.

*As an added note, I'm not accusing Will Chang of abandoning DC.

Najar is up for GOTW.  So is the Seattle dude that got the gut-wrencher against us.  So far the Seattle dude is winning.  While the Seattle goal was nice/lucky as hell, Najar's goal was against the best team in the league against players a foot taller than him.  So lets borrow the RSL vote stuffing machine and get to work!
(Bitter rant to fill out my 75 words-- still can't believe we lost those two games.  Need to improve on defense.)